Awakening
by SeaHouse
Summary: Like most love stories, Cress' started with a kiss. The wrong kiss, some may say, but a kiss nonetheless. Like most tragedies, Thorne's started with a foolish decision, that, of course, seemed perfect reasonable to the young, and also foolish, protagonist. {Cress-centric Cresswell Hogwarts AU}
1. The Beginning

Like most love stories, Cress' began with a kiss. The wrong kiss, some may say, but a kiss nonetheless.

It was a kiss for the books, the kind of kiss that makes you forget everything else but the feel of their lips and skin against yours, moving against each other with perfect synchrony. It was everything a fifteen year old girl could ever dream of, filled with love, lust, and everything in between. It was the kind of kiss that Cress had the only ever read about in the romance novels she would sneak past librarians into dark corners of the library.

Of course, Cress would've enjoyed the kiss a great deal more if the lips her boyfriend was treating so well were hers.

Like most tragedies, Thorne's began with a foolish decision that, of course, seemed perfectly reasonable to the young, and also foolish, protagonist.

The simple movement of an object from one position to the other, was how he would later describe it. Theft was how the more sensible people at Hogwarts cared to name it.

He didn't mean to do it, truly. It was just that he had never seen one of those up close before, only ever seen images of it in Muggle Studies. A _laptop_ was how they called it, he recalled.

According to Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles, it could access a wealth of information with just a few clicks of the right buttons. It was a diamond in a coal mine, so who could blame him for trying to make it his?

However romanticized dreamers may make them out to be, at the end of the day, these beginnings don't matter, not really. No one truly falls in love at first glance, and no one can tell what moments matter and what moments don't until they're over.

No, beginnings don't matter at all. What counts after it's all said and done are the beads of moments that lead those beginnings to the inevitable end.

 ** _September 1st_**

Cress lays on a blanket of soft grass, watching the sun fade into a sky of purples and greys. Her thoughts had been relentless with doubts since she had witnessed the scene, not trusting what her eyes deemed true. _It probably wasn't even Sean,_ she said over and over in her mind, until the words blended together into a meaningless chant.

Of course it was him. The distinct way his soft brown hair stuck up at the nape of his neck, how he always tied his blue and silver tie around his neck instead of under his collar, the oh-so familiar way he slid his fingers through that girl's hair, down her back and arms, as if he was trying to memorize every inch of her body.

The slideshow of images kept playing over and over in her mind, taunting her.

When she had made the decision to stay at Hogwarts for the summer, she had been so sure of their relationship, of their unbreakable love. She felt like such a fool now. How on earth was a 3 month relationship going to endure the challenges of distance?

The faint sound of crunching leaves causes Cress to bolt up from her thoughts, instinctively drawing her wand in defense. A few yards away from her, she spots a tall figure in a black cloak. God, she thought everyone was at the feast already.

"Who are you?" Cress calls out, pointing her wand. Her hand trembled slightly, betraying her fear of the mysterious figure.

The figure snapped around at Cress' voice, exposing their gentle, familiar features.

"Cress? What are you doing here? The Grand Feast started ages ago; I was wondering where you were where you were," said Natalie, running up to Cress.

Cress let out a breath of relief and put her wand back into her hair.

"I'm sorry; I just needed some time for myself, you know?" Cress said, sitting back down.

"What's wrong? Sean was looking for you; he seemed really worried," Natalie said, taking the spot beside her.

"Sean doesn't give a shit. He doesn't give a shit about me or about us or about anything else in his miserable little life," Cress growled, putting her head in her hands.

"What do you mean? Cress, what happened?"

"He, um- he cheated on me. Right there, at the gates, in front of everyone. It's like he didn't even _care_ who saw. Can you believe that? He never fucking kissed _me_ like that," Cress spit out.

Then, before she could stop them, sobs erupted from her throat. Her entire body shook from the tears, and Natalie's arms were immediately around her as she whispered words of comfort.

"I waited for him. I waited all summer," Cress wailed. All the kisses in spring, all the love letters exchanged during summer vacation now seemed so fragile, reduced to memories that only served as a sharp pain in her chest.

"I know, I know. You're too good for him; this isn't your fault."

"I know, I know. I just don't know what to do. I loved him so much."

"Well, you're not going anywhere _near_ him like this. C'mon get up, let's go inside," Natalie said, pulling Cress to her feet.

"I don't want to go into the Great Hall right now." Cress stumbled after Natalie's quick pace, holding on to her arm.

"And that's why we aren't going in there. I know a place."

Cress stared after her best friend in confusion. In the 5 years they had spent at Hogwarts, they've been everywhere together; what place could she know of that she didn't?

Natalie maneuvered them past the Great Hall and down several flights of stairs to the Hogwarts basement.

"Um, I don't mean to be rude, but where the hell are we going? Isn't this the Hufflepuff common room?" Cress asked. Natalie gently pressed a finger to her lips and smiled as they neared a large painting of a fruit bowl.

"Look at this," she said as she raised her hand to the gleaming pear. Then, quite oddly, she began to move her fingers gently against the image, almost tickling it.

The painting began to giggle and move against her hand, until it, quite literally, magically turned into a green doorknob. She leaned up and turned the doorknob, exposing an exact replica of the Great Hall, plus an array of kitchen counters and stoves pressed against the stone walls.

The room was filled by a bustle of house elves cooking and cleaning. Their presence was unnoticed with the exception of a few wry glances from the busy elves.

"Whoa; what is this place?" Cress asked in awe. Hogwarts had become her home over time, but it still managed to surprise her after all this time.

"This is the Hogwarts kitchen. Apparently, all the Hufflepuffs know about it, but refuse to share the information with the rest of us. You know, not all of them are as honest as they make them out to be," Natalie said, as she stepped into the portrait hole.

Cress followed after her into the hectic room, weaving around tables and elves as they went.

They neared a door at the back corner of the kitchen, and Natalie quickly pulled her into the dark room.

Cress fumbled for the light until she found the hidden switch behind a rack of plates. "Why did you bring me here?" asked Cress, surveying the room.

"You need to get some anger out of you." Natalie pulled a stack of plates out of the rack, and handed one to Cress.

"I really don't think this is a good idea," said Cress, observing the white plate in her hands. She never was an angry person. Even now, all she felt was pain and humiliation.

"Listen, you aren't going anywhere until you do something about those emotions you always keep pent up. Aren't you mad him? You trusted him, and he went and stuck his tongue down some random girl's throat. That really shows how much respect he was for you and the relationship you guys had. He's nothing but a cheating, manipulating piece of sh-"

"Shut up," Cress snapped. She grasped her plate and threw it against the floor with more strength that she thought she had in her. Woah. Natalie was right; that did feel good.

"YEAH! Don't you feel at least a little better now?" Natalie exclaimed.

"Not really, but keep those plates coming."

Cress began smashing plate after plate down to the floor, watching each one break into a million little pieces.

"You know, part of me feels like I'm doing my house a disservice," Cress said, looking over.

Natalie was leaning against the opposite wall, giving Cress a little smile. "Don't worry. We can fix these when you're done. Ever heard of

Reparo?" She smiled and waved her wand.

Cress gave her an exasperated look and picked up yet another plate. More confident now, she grasped it tightly before swinging it against the wall.

The plate crashed against a shelf filled with goblets leaning up against the opposite wall, sending it toppling down with a deafening crash.

Cress let out a small scream before staring at the mess she had made in shock.

"Oh no! Oh my God! Okay, okay, this is bad. We can fix this! Oh no. Don't worry about it. Cress, you pick up the rack, and I'll start fixings these damn goblets. Everything is going to be okay," Natalie said, pulling her wand out.

"I'm so, so, so sorry. I didn't think it'll do that," Cress apologized. Fear was coursing through her veins now as she quickly began picking up the mess.

Then, just as suddenly as the mess had been made, the doom slammed open and a booming voice filled the room.

" _What is the meaning of this?_ " bellowed Professor Ladar, the Head of Hufflepuff. Cress dropped the rack she was holding up, sending it crashing to the ground once more.

"I- we um-" Cress stammered out. She had never, _ever_ been in trouble at Hogwarts. Her shy personality and Muggle-born roots caused her to be one of Hogwarts most behaved, if a little forgettable, students.

"We were just going to clean this up; you don't have to worry about us," explained Natalie, casting Cress a worried glance.

"Oh, that's where you're mistaken. Both of you, my office _now,"_ said the professor sternly, heading out the door.

The walk to her office was unbearable. Cress almost couldn't feel the floor beneath her feet as she walked next to Natalie. Her stomach felt as if had been infested with gut-eating eagles.

"Professor Ladar, I don't mean any offense when I say this, but my friend and I aren't even in Hufflepuff, as you can note by our ties. We're Ravenclaws so maybe you could let Gremlum deal with us?" Natalie pleaded.

It was a well-known fact that Professor Gremlum, Head of Ravenclaw, tended to be a little more lenient with his students that he probably should be. Unfortunately, his Hufflepuff counterpart wasn't as forgiving.

"While gracious is your offer to take yourself out of my hands, I am perfectly happy to deal with you myself," replied Professor Ladar as she opened the door to her office.

"Sit," she commanded. Cress obeyed, shrinking in her seat at Ladar's stern stare.

"Now tell me, do you have any reasonable justification for your actions this evening?"

"We were being reckless, and we are sorry. But if you would just allow us to get back down there, we could clean our mess up in a jiffy," pleaded Natalie.

"And what exactly would you learn from that? You two will serve a week of detention, helping in the kitchens before every dinner, breakfast, and lunch. Understood?" Professor Ladar said.

Unfortunately, Natalie didn't get the "agree-and-leave" memo.

"But Cress hasn't ever even gotten a warning in her life. Clean record until now, so maybe she can get a little less?" she asked boldly. At that moment, Cress could feel her soul dying.

"That's great for her! Maybe _two_ weeks will be enough for her to get a nice taste of trouble, huh?" replied the professor.

"But-"

"That's all for this evening. You two can leave," interrupted Ladar, gesturing towards the door.

They both stood and walked out the door as fast as their legs could take them.

"Cress, I'm so, so sorry for that. I didn't know Hufflepuffs could be that austere," apologized Natalie as soon as the door shut behind them.

"It's fine. I know you were just trying to help. Detention won't be too bad; I happen to be fond of cooking. At least, I remember enjoying it from my time in the orphanage."

"Oh, I still feel bad. Imagine the one who got us into this; let me serve detention with you, all two weeks."

"No, no. It's fine, really. Let's just go to our dorms I'm exhausted."

Right now, all Cress wanted to do was take a hot shower and wash the day away with her strawberry scented body wash.

Of course, any hope of that happening was thrown out the window when Cress spotted a mass of Ravenclaw students huddled around the entrance of the common room.

"What the fuck?" expressed Natalie as they neared the frenzied group of students. "We need to find April," said Cress.

"Uh, I think I found her." Cress directed a hand towards the busy brunette who was trying to settle a fight between a pair of rowdy 2nd years.

April, the more diligent of the trio, had been named Prefect this summer, to nobody's surprise. She was Ravenclaw's top student and was likable enough that most of the student body has a mutual respect for her.

They quickly sauntered over to their friend, who broke out into a grin at the sight of them.

"Detention, both of you. Now go and try to stay out of trouble, all right?" April said to the mischievous boys.

The pair of troublemakers nodded solemnly and turned away. April watched them walk away with almost a look of pride before finally turning to Cress.

"Where were you two? I wanted to go looking after you two when Natalie didn't come back, but then this whole fiasco happened. Some first year lost their Muggle device, and now they're searching everyone's trunks and dorms," April ranted.

"It's kinda a long story," said Natalie, casting a worried look towards Cress. "We can talk about it later."

"Oh! Okie dokie!" April said, seeming to sense the tension between her friends.

"Yeah, um, how long are long we supposed to stay out here, exactly?" asked Cress.

"They started searching about half an hour ago when it went missing. Shouldn't be too

long now, although I sense administration is a bit wary after what happened a few years back," said April.

"Give a lonely Muggle-born some Internet, and they almost out the entire Wizarding world. Can you believe it?" Natalie says, rolling her eyes. "No offense, Cress."

"No offense taken," she replies.

There truly wasn't. The oddball who had spent months ranting on some forum about Hogwarts life had almost uncovered the best kept secret in centuries. A part of her felt that a lifetime in Azkaban was a bit excessive, but she shoved that feeling down by remembering the grave treason he had committed, all the lives he put at risk.

"Hey! There's Professor Solice," exclaimed someone in crowd.

And there Professor Solice was, all custom red robes and fury. She paused to in front of the crowd for a few moments before she clapped firmly five times, garnering the attention of all the Ravenclaws.

"We have found the Muggle device in the possession of one of my Gryffindor pupils. Head Girl, Alisha, go on and inform Professor Gremlum of this matter. The rest of you may retire to your dorms. I expect you all to be up

and ready for your first day of classes tomorrow," stated Solice with a strong, authoritive tone.

Then, as quickly as she had come, she turned and walked off, leaving a hoard of whispering students.

"A Gryffindor? Who do you think it was?" Natalie speculated.

"I don't want to start any rumors, but my best bet is on Thorne. He's the one who set fire to the kitchens last year, after all," replied April before clearing her throat and ushering the younger students into the common room.

"Huh. I never imagined he'd be stupid enough to try to steal a Muggle device like that," said Cress.

"Oh, and I never imagined you'd get over him. Remember how you had a massive crush on him back when we were 2nd years?"

"God, don't remind me. If I could go back, I'd punch some sense into Little Cress."

Cress laughed at the memory of 12 year old her fawning over that prick. Sure, he was fit, but, as she had learned a year ago, he was a complete douche. An ass with an ass is how she liked to mentally refer to him.

"Cress? Sean is coming over here," Natalie said.

"Oh my God. I really don't want to look at him right now," Cress groaned, looking over to the approaching figure.

"I'll handle him, if you want."

"Oh, thank the stars. Just don't tell him that I know. I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"I will. Now go before he gets here!"

Cress obeyed, pressing a quick hand of gratitude to her friend'a shoulder. She quickly maneuvered her way to the stairwell and ran up to the dorm rooms.

As she made her way through her nightly routine, Cress thought about a lot of things.

She thought about her cheating boyfriend, about how much her younger self would've given to even have a boyfriend. She thought about the stupidity of people, how they all seemed to want things they can't have and push away the things they do. She thought about how good it felt to have people to talk to, to trust after the lonely summer.

She thought a lot of things, but she felt more. She felt the pain, the humiliation, the betrayal, but amidst it all, she felt hope. Hope for the things yet to come.


	2. Newfound Grace

"You know you're going to have to face him eventually."

Cress was surveying herself in the mirror, carefully tying off her long side braid, when Natalie had said this.

Cress sighed. She had spent her early morning in ignorant bliss, not allowing herself to think about the past day's occurrences.

"I know. It's just hard. I don't even know what I'm supposed to say. ' _Hey, so yesterday I saw you with another girl, what was that about?'_ " Cress shook her head. "You know what I should've done? I should've confronted him, right there, front of everyone, like they do in the movies. That way I wouldn't have to talk to him ever again, and _he'd_ have the short end of the stick."

"Cress, you have the upper hand here. He cheated on you because of his own bloody decisions. He obviously didn't want to lose you, or else he would've broken up with you. But of course he didn't, because he's a coward! _He's_ the one who's losing the best girl he's ever going to get in his worthless little life."

Cress wiped a single tear away from her cheeks and nodded.

"You're right, you're right. I- I know it's stupid, but for a while I thought he was the one, the love of my life. I had all these dreams where we would graduate and get married and have twins and grow old together. Isn't that funny now?"

"Oh, trust me, someday you're going to find someone who's head-over-heels over you and will actually treat you right to have that future with," Natalie said, patting her back.

Cress smiled at her words and knew them to be true, but even so, her nerves would not calm at the prospect of confrontation. Nice to know that Sean still made her stomach flutter after all this time.

The pair of friends made their way down to Common Room, which was already filling up with early-rising students looking for a moment of peace before the bustle of the school day kicked in.

As they walked, Natalie began filling Cress in on all the hot gossip that had transpired over the summer as they walked. Cress wondered if she was trying to distract her from Sean, and she mentally thanked her for it. It was quite relieving to be focusing on someone else's drama rather than on her own

Natalie informed her on how Laurie had drunkenly gotten her ex-boyfriend's name tatood on her wrist, and that Logan had been rejected by Katherine, which according to her, was his own fault due to her being two years older than him and being twice as fit as he'll ever be.

Cress's step faltered slightly when Natalie mentioned that Thorne had in fact been the laptop bandit from last night.

"What happened to him? Did he get expelled?" Cress asked.

She hadn't spoken to Thorne since The Second Year Incident that she'd repressed into the dark corners of her mind, and everything she'd heard about him since then hadn't been particularly pleasant. Even so, a small part of her still wanted to believe the best in him, or at least in what he could become.

Natalie shook her head. "I haven't heard, but I don't think he was. I mean, he's done much worse stuff before and been fine. Remember when he released all the owls from the owlery back when he was in fourth year?"

Cress let out a laugh. "That has terrible! It took them weeks to find them all and even then, some people claimed that their owls were just transfigured crows."

"Well, I know for a fact my Elton came back safely because I had painted his talons a nice burgundy the day before."

"Yes, and if I recall correctly, that's where the scar on your left arm came from," Cress teased as she pushed her playfully.

Natalie yawned. "Professor Ladar is such a pushover. I mean, were fifteen detentions really necessary for a couple of plates?"

Cress shrugged. "I'm just praying that she'll forget about them. No way she's actually making me serve thirty hours worth of detention. Surely, she has much bigger things to fuss about."

They were nearing the kitchen entrance and outlined in the flickering torches, Cress could make out three silhouettes of drastically different heights.

As they approached, the figures revealed themselves to be a house elf with a particularly crooked nose, Professor Ladar, and then the boy himself, Carswell Thorne.

Cress's heart fumbled as she took note of Thorne, who was shuffling his feet and examining a painting depicting the delicate figure of a lady having tea. He seemed different since the last time she'd seen him, somehow.

The changes were subtle, but they intrigued her nonetheless. He stood taller, almost a solid foot over her meager 5'0.

A white button-down hung snugly against his torso and arms. He also seemed to have developed a jawline over the summer, but Cress's gaze became fixed on his unchanging blue eyes that were just a few shades brighter than hers as they roved over the oil painting and, eventually, landed on her.

Cress gasped and took Natalie's arm, leading them to Professor Ladar.

"Wha- are you okay?" said Natalie, noticing Cress's flushed face.

Cress had opened her mouth to respond when Professor Ladar noticed them and said, "Ah, the smashing duo has finally decided to arrived. Here I was thinking I was going to die of old age waiting."

"We've only been waiting five minutes, Professor," Thorne commented, now standing in front of them with a smile that was way too cheery for a 6 A.M. detention

Ladar pretended to not hear his words as she continued. "This is Borey," she said, pointing down towards the house elf. "She has agreed to monitor you while serving your detentions, so you will be following her orders. Now, make no mistake, she outranks you in this scenario, so I expect your three to treat her with the upmost respect."

Cress nodded shakily, telling herself that her nerves were due only to Ladar's commanding presence.

"Okay, now that you're all here, I must get going, so hand over your wands."

Cress's heart stopped. "What? You can't do that!"

Her wand, crafted from holly wood with a unicorn hair core, had become a part of her being since it had first chosen her four years ago, back when the whole concept of magic seemed so new and bright. She clung onto it like a crutch; the pressure of it against her side comforted her in stressful situations like this.

"Excuse me? Young lady, this is to teach you manners and hard work, and you'll never learn either if you just use your wand at every obstacle you face! You'll get it back when you're done," said Ladar sternly.

Cress shrunk down at her words and promptly handed over her wand. Natalie followed suit, but when Thorne gave his over, Ladar handed it right back.

"Don't you think I know the difference between a wand and a oak tree branch? Hand me your actual wand."

Thorne gave the professor a sheepish grin and winked at Cress (or maybe it was meant for Natalie; she couldn't tell in the dim light). "It was worth a shot."

Cress flushed and looked at her feet.

Ladar passed the wands to Borey before leaning down and whispering, "Good luck." She quickly patted the displeased elf's head before turning and walking away.

Borey sighed and took a step forward. "Borey didn't catch your names. Tell me your name and one fun fact about yourself," Borey said in a trembling, rehearsed voice, as if she was repeating words she'd heard from another. She swiftly turned on her heel and walked into the hectic kitchen.

The trio exchanged a look of confusion before trailing in behind her.

Thorne was the first to speak. "I'm Carswell Thorne, but most people just call me Thorne. Can I just say the only fun thing about me in this moment is being in the presence by three beautiful girls?" Thorne grinned charmingly at Cress and Natalie, and was met with the sound of Natalie gagging.

"Ah, so you're the one who caused all that commotion last night. Not the smartest tool, Borey assumes. Couldn't you have chosen a better hiding spot for a Muggle device than _under you bed?_ ," Borey said.

Thorne shrugged. "What can I say? Some things are just meant to be found." Thorne gave Borey a confident smile, though Cress sensed a hint of bashfulness in his demeanor.

"My name's Natalie, and a fun fact about me is that I shouldn't be here," Natalie said.

Borey sighed. "That's what they all say."

The group had reached a table filled with an assortment of uncooked breakfast foods. Borey turned to face them and pointed to Cress. "You. You haven't said your name or fun fact."

"I- I'm Cress Darnel, and I- um..." Cress tried to think. "I really enjoy Muggle culture," Cress stammered out, unnerved by having three pairs of eyes on her.

"Interesting. Does that mean you can cook without your wand?" asked Borey.

"A little, from what I remember," said Cress.

Natalie opened her mouth before Thorne interrupted suddenly. "I can too!" He stepped forward in front of Natalie, shooting her a wink. Natalie glared.

"Great! You two can start on the eggs and bacon while Natalie here can help Borey with the plates, though Borey doesn't know if she can trust her with those after last night," Borey said, laughing at her own joke.

When she was met with silence and apprehensive look, she cleared her throat and straightened. She picked up a large, leather-bound book from behind her.

"Every single recipe we make is in there, so if you need help, just look it up." Borey handed over the book to Cress, who staggered under the weight of it.

"Aces, you're tiny." Thorne gently took the book from her hands and set it down on the table.

Cress cleared her throat and avoided his gaze. "Thank you."

As Natalie and Borey began walked away, Cress cast Natalie a distressed look, which was responded with a grimace and an unsure thumbs-up.

Cress sighed and turned back to look at Thorne. He was sitting on the countertop and had a bag of pumpkin seeds on his lap that he was eating out of.

He smiled when he noticed her. "Hey! Cress, right? Pretty name for a pretty girl."

Cress raised her eyebrows. "I'm not sure whether to trust the judgement of someone who goes by Thorne"

"What? It's a cool name." He popped a few seeds into his mouth and gestured around the kitchen. "So, do you actually know how to do this?"

"Cook, you mean? Yeah, don't you?" she asked

"Not really," Thorne admitted.

"Then why did you say you could?"

"Because I like spending time with attractive girls?"

She hated the blush that creeped onto her cheeks as she tripped over her words. "I- you- what do you..."

She looked around for something to distract herself and found a pair of pans on the table behind Thorne. She leaned around him to pick them up, and when she straightened, her arm brushed ever so slightly against his.

Cress quickly pulled away and averted his gaze, placing the pans on the stove and making sure to set it to the right temperature.

When she glanced back to him, he wore a knowing smirk, as if he had expected her to become flustered.

Maybe on a better day, Cress would've found him charming and been swooning at his feet. But she wasn't that naive twelve anymore and frankly, her past twenty-four hours hadn't been the greatest, so she felt slightly justified in ignoring his flirting.

She raised an egg in Thorne's face. "I'm not going to do all this myself. Watch."

Thorne leaned in and said, "I'm all yours." He winked.

Cress took a deep breath and willed her hands to remember the movement of cracking an egg before she did it.

The egg fell gracefully into an almost-perfect circle. which caused Cress to beam proudly down at it.

"See? It's easy. Now all you do is put some salt and pepper in and flip it." Cress finished the egg and slid it carefully onto a platter.

Thorne let out a low whistle. "Where did you learn that?"

Cress tilted her head, considering her answer. If she were to be completely honest, she would tell him that cooking had been one of her chores at the orphanage where she had grown up. She would never tell him that, of course, so she opted for a simpler answer.

"Um, I was raised a Muggle," she said finally.

Thorne hummed in response and picked up an egg.

Cress observed him quietly as he attempted to replicate what she had done. His eyebrows furrowed with concentration and his lips quirked slightly to the left as he held the egg gently in his hand. He examined it for a moment before slamming it into the edge of the counter.

Cress squealed and jumped back as bits of eggs shell and yeast went flying. They looked at each other in bewilderment for a second before Cress doubled over laughing. "Oh my goodness!" Cress choked out in between giggles.

"Stars." Thorne ran towards the sink and began washing is hands. "I think that one was defective."

"What? No, you're just supposed to tap it. _Lightly_ ," exclaimed Cress after her laughter had died down.

Thorne sighed and tried again, this time tapping it tenderly against the counter and successfully getting it into the pan. He grinned down at it.

Cress gave him a small smile before turning back to the table. There didn't seem to be any bacon on it, so she opened up the fridge closest to her, which, to her surprise, was half-filled with packaged strips of bacon.

She took a couple out and said,"That's odd. I thought everything was served fresh."

"This school is centuries old. Nothing is fresh here." Thorne paused. "Well, except me."

"What does that even mean?" Cress asked, blinking.

"Whatever you want it to, shortcake."

Cress gulped. "Don't call me that."

Thorne looked over at her. "Why? Are you insecure about your height? I think it's the most adorable thing about you."

Cress flushed and hesitated for a moment. "I- I- my boyfriend used to call me that. Well, ex-boyfriend now, I think."

"You think?" Thorne had stopped frying the eggs and was now facing Cress completely, his questioning blue eyes boring down on her.

"I'm breaking up with him today. He was cheating on me. I don't know for how long and when it started, but I caught him yesterday," said Cress, keeping her eyes on the bacon.

"Oh! I'm sorry. If you'd like, I'll beat him up for you. He doesn't deserve someone like you."

Thorne began sliding his arm around Cress before she knocked it off her shoulders. "Didn't you cheat on Kate Fallow a few months ago? You have no right to judge," Cress spit out.

Thorne sighed and retracted his arm. "That was a misunderstanding. I didn't do anything until after we broke up, but I don't think she believed me."

"I'm not sure if I believe you, either," Cress huffed.

Thorne's rolled towards the ceiling. "Think what you want of me, but I'm not a cheater. I stay at my girl's side until the end."

When Cress dared to look at him, she saw nothing but sincerity etched onto his features. Even so, she doubted that any guy would willing proclaim himself a cheater, much less in front of what he considered an "pretty girl".

"Okay. Whatever," said Cress.

Thorne's eyes brightened. "You believe me?"

"I don't know or care what you do with your love life. It's none of my business." Cress moved the bacon around in the pan aggressively.

Thorne was quiet for a moment before saying, "Does that mean you'll tell me what's the deal with your friend?"

Cress furrowed her brows. "Her deal? What do you mean?"

"You know… is she available?"

Cress scoffed. "Did you seriously ask me that? I might not care what you do, but do not bring my best friend into your messy habits. Not like she'd go for someone like you, anyways."

Thorne held a hand to his chest, feigning hurt. "First of all, I treat all my girls with nothing but chivalry. Second of all, how could she resist all of this." Thorne struck a ridiculously coquettish pose and wiggled his eyebrows.

Cress had to admit it wasn't a bad view, but burst out laughing at his cockiness. "Trust me; she wouldn't."

"And how would you know that?"

Cress gave him an amused smile. "Natalie's a lesbian, you idiot."

He faltered for a mere second before he spoke. "Well, I can work with that."

"No, you can't. Why don't you use your charm on someone who might actually be interested?" said Cress defensively.

Thorne looked at her for a moment and, for the first time, his lips formed into a genuine smile. "Alright," he finally agreed.

They fell into a a comfortable silence after that, the sound of oil sizzling and the bustle of the house elves keeping their ears busy.

However, it wasn't long afterwards that it was interrupted by a shrill bell ringing out that sent everyone around them hustling towards wooden tables at the center of the room.

Cress looked around in confusion until she spotted Borey running up to them. "What's going on?" Cress questioned.

"That's the five minute bell! Let Borey see what you've done," Borey said hurriedly.

Cress quickly picked up the platter that held the large pile of bacon she had fried in the past hour. Borey plopped a piece into her mouth and closed her eyes. She nodded.

"Good enough; go put it on the Ravenclaw table to the left of the marmalade. You can go now; your detention is over. Here's your wand." Borey pulled the wand from

under her cloth garment, and Cress tried not to wonder where it may have been.

Cress breathed out a sigh of relief when she felt the soft wood of her wand in her hands again. She quickly stuck it into her waistband and was walking away before a voice called her back.

"Hey Cress," Thorne called out. "Good luck breaking up with your boyfriend!"

She turned back at him with a smile and relished in the happy, jittery feeling in her chest.

When Cress walked out of the kitchen, she immediately spotted Natalie leaning up against the opposite wall, her blue tie popping out in the mass of yellow Hufflepuffs that had already began making their way to the Great Hall.

"So, how was the dreamy Prince of Charm and Theft," Natalie teased, fanning herself.

"Shut up! He wasn't as bad as I thought he would be. He seemed be very interested in you, though. I shut him down immediately, don't worry," Cress said proudly.

"Oh, I should've been there when you told him. I can already see the look on his face!" Natalie squealed. One of her greatest joys in life came from watching guys trip over themselves after realizing, and denying, that she was not interested in them as a whole one bit.

"I mean, actually he was kind of o-"

Cress's words were cut off by a pair of hands covering her eyes and an all-too familiar voice whispering, "Guess who?"


End file.
